NT$2.6 trillion in gov't funds 'unsupervised' for five months

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Six government-managed funds worth NT$2.6 trillion have been without supervision for five consecutive months, local news reported yesterday.

The Labor Insurance Fund, Labor Retirement Fund, National Pension Fund, Employment Insurance Fund, Occupational Accident Protection Fund and the Arrear Wage Payment Fund have not been managed properly ever since the establishment of the Ministry of Labor (MOL) in February as a labor fund management board has not been put in place.

The MOL maintained that related investment of the six government funds was made following a set plan and the competent authority has been reviewing the funds' accounts regularly. The funds were still under effective management, the MOL said.

Given the complicated process, the MOL has not yet recruited the right supervisor for the labor fund management board, the establishment of which is consequently delayed, the MOL said. The supervision part rather than the investment part is more important in fund management, the MOL added.

The MOL pointed out that a fund management division is currently in charge of the funds. However, there are only three people in the division, and how effectively they are handling and investing the NT$2.6322 trillion worth of funds still raised concern.